tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post3313777590338988087..comments2023-12-28T03:19:32.567-06:00Comments on Uptown, Minneapolis - Past, Present, and Future: Remember McPunks?Uptown Urbanisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14291945036235920445noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post-68390457523764202182019-05-25T10:50:51.207-05:002019-05-25T10:50:51.207-05:00I grew up in Uptown, I was a neighborhood kid. An...I grew up in Uptown, I was a neighborhood kid. And it was Zantigos before Taco Bell. We'd walk a loop from Calhoun Square to McDonalds, to the Walker Library and then to Croissant Express, catching up with everyone. Davanni's was another spot. And I have to agree with the poster above - the second half of the 80's, about 86 or 87 is when things went political. I had so many deep discussions and did a lot of philosophizing in those days. I marched in US out of Honduras, I marched in Bash the Rich. I even got maced during Bash the Rich, and I wasn't even doing anything other than yelling and marching. There will never be another time and another place like 80's Uptown and I'm thankful I was there. The working class kids of the neighborhood intermingling with the angsty Edina and St. Louis Park kids...it was all so very organic. Its shaped me into who I am today. Good stuff here. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post-18984838847171449332019-04-03T16:56:04.883-05:002019-04-03T16:56:04.883-05:00The Minneapolis scene did have a "profound re...The Minneapolis scene did have a "profound revolutionary political significance" in the form of RABL and ARA (Anti-Racist Action)- the latter being the direct forerunner of the movement known today as Antifa. However, there's a time line issue.<br /><br />The first half of the 80's were the suburban kids hanging out at McDonald's, Calhoun Square, and Rocky Horror Picture Show, parading around their fashion, attention whoring with "shock value".<br /><br />The second half of the 80's is when the scene started getting more political. Many of the kids traded their spiked hair in for dreadlocks. Leather fell out of fashion because of animal rights. Social issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia, women's rights, veganism/animal rights and foreign interventions by the US government came to the forefront. But by this time uptown became less popular of a hangout in favor of houses, book stores, West Bank, various bars and music venues such as First Ave/7th St Entry, Red Sea, Avalon Theater, so on and so forth.<br /><br />Well, that's the short version (and I was there for some of it).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post-71908200907514521082018-11-17T11:58:56.630-06:002018-11-17T11:58:56.630-06:00Thanks for writing this. I just discovered it afte...Thanks for writing this. I just discovered it after getting into yet another stupid dispute with yet another decades-too-late writer who wanted to claim there was some profound revolutionary political significance to the 1980s Minneapolis punk scene. You nailed the zeitgeist dead on. I'll be citing you.<br /><br />Thanks for the memories. ~brbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10845253722980029012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post-16940445098413345672014-01-11T02:05:01.387-06:002014-01-11T02:05:01.387-06:00For Years, just for fun, I have been meaning to se...For Years, just for fun, I have been meaning to see if anything existed reguarding the 80's and Uptown or Downtown. I finally looked up and saw your blog years after the fact, even your blog. For those who lived it, your blog was so dead on. We might have even known each other it was such a small community lol. Thanks for the memories! LisaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post-55006129509574448192013-06-11T10:32:59.080-05:002013-06-11T10:32:59.080-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fr3lonBrunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04266882350955024023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post-77292079912620206512010-04-21T22:54:00.097-05:002010-04-21T22:54:00.097-05:00Riding the 21A up from Bloomington and 35th, was a...Riding the 21A up from Bloomington and 35th, was always a ride I loved. Miss those days, or daze perhaps is a better term... Beer under the railroad tracks, smoking Camels at 2 AM at Lake of the Isles.. All the stupid stuff that felt quite important at the time.... There was good and bad with that scene, sadly the soul has long ago been removed from Uptown and DT... I used the play guitar on the corners to get my McD $$... Damn, I need a Big Mac PRONTO...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post-75944237522950347542009-10-20T00:44:34.495-05:002009-10-20T00:44:34.495-05:00some newspaper articles on the Uptown Punks
http:...some newspaper articles on the Uptown Punks<br /><br />http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/balcony/7248/press.htmlOllie Stenchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03833984284395681016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post-157213122772561882009-06-05T23:59:42.785-05:002009-06-05T23:59:42.785-05:00Thanks so very much for letting me post! God Bless...Thanks so very much for letting me post! God Bless You All!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post-30740945273357726952009-06-05T23:58:09.179-05:002009-06-05T23:58:09.179-05:00Uptown McDonalds has a motley collection of people...Uptown McDonalds has a motley collection of people. There's Johnny who stays with a carpenter named Brad. Johnny is unable to handle a steady job. But he is a good sort. He'll always greet you. And he'll ask for money. Then there are the oldsters who show up from around 7 to 9 am. I used to socialize with these folks but there's a racist guy who puts down Jews. So I only go to this McDs to get a breakfast and then I eat it at Lake of the Isles. There's much more to say about the Uptown McDs. Later.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post-13941557258368786282009-03-23T11:28:00.000-05:002009-03-23T11:28:00.000-05:00According to my memory, uptown mcdonalds was punke...According to my memory, uptown mcdonalds was punked out, but we never called it McPunks. We called the downtown mcdonalds MCPUNKS. Uptown mcdonalds was just, "uptown mcdonalds" and downtown mcdonalds was "McPunks".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post-50631782790482794612009-03-05T21:33:00.000-06:002009-03-05T21:33:00.000-06:00The McPunks were an '80s thing. I'd argue that mos...The McPunks were an '80s thing. I'd argue that most Uptown punks in the '90s were part of a different era, and not directly comparable to the McPunks. At the very least any Taco Bell punk scene didn't have the larger cultural impact that the Uptown McDonald's did. Maybe someone one there disagrees - Anders, do you have some Taco Bell love to share?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post-41449818552898392132009-03-05T17:48:00.000-06:002009-03-05T17:48:00.000-06:00There were definitely lots of punks at the Taco Be...There were definitely lots of punks at the Taco Bell in the mid 90's.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post-52714541729580196692009-03-04T23:56:00.000-06:002009-03-04T23:56:00.000-06:00Why is Taco Bell deserving of any special love? I ...Why is Taco Bell deserving of any special love? I don't know if I ever set foot in that Taco Bell, but were there punks there, too? I thought they mostly congregated at the McD's.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post-79566556763772915682009-03-03T10:16:00.000-06:002009-03-03T10:16:00.000-06:00Outdoor Southdale? Empty storefronts, sure, but th...Outdoor Southdale? Empty storefronts, sure, but there aren't any more national retailers in Uptown now than there were throughout the 1990s at least.<BR/><BR/>And where's the Lake & Girard Taco Bell love?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8530164677766105511.post-91597673843448958752009-03-02T12:18:00.000-06:002009-03-02T12:18:00.000-06:00I not only remember the McPunks, I actually wrote ...I not only remember the McPunks, I actually wrote a short story for a creative writing class about the McPunks back in about 1983. I agree that they were not trouble kids, just disaffected teenagers who dressed and groomed to get attention (while always claiming they just wanted to be left alone). I miss those days -- Uptown is nowadays just an outdoor Southdale (including the empty stores).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com